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Medicaid expansion won’t begin in North Carolina on Oct. 1 because there’s still no final budget

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - With the state budget's passage now two months late, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's administration announced Monday that it can't start the implementation of Medicaid expansion to hundreds of thousands of low-income adults in the early fall as it had wanted. State Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley said that expansion won't begin on Oct. 1, which in July he unveiled as the start date

Teva to pay $225M to settle cholesterol drug price-fixing charges

WASHINGTON (AP) - The generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals agreed Monday to pay $225 million to settle price-fixing charges related to sales of a major cholesterol-lowering drug. The U.S. Department of Justice said the agreement also requires Teva to divest its business making and selling the drug, pravastatin, a generic version of the brand-name medicine Pravachol. Another generic drug maker, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, agreed to pay a $30 million criminal penalty

Jacksonville shootings refocus attention on the city’s racist past and the struggle to move on

By some measures, Jacksonville was making strides to emerge from its racist past. But the killing of three Black people by a young, white shooter was a painful and startling reminder that the remnants of racism still fester in the Florida city. What happened Saturday in Jacksonville, said 79-year-old longtime resident Rodney Hurst, "could have happened anywhere, except it did happen in Jacksonville." The shooting occurred as the community prepared

Gender-affirming surgeries in the US nearly tripled before pandemic dip, study finds

BY CARLA K. JOHNSON (AP) The number of gender-affirming surgeries in the U.S. nearly tripled from 2016 to 2019 before dropping slightly in 2020, according to a study published Wednesday. The increase likely reflects expanded insurance coverage for transgender care after the Obama administration and some states actively discouraged discrimination based on gender identity, lead author Dr. Jason Wright of Columbia University said. The dip in 2020 can be attributed to

South Carolina’s new all-male highest court reverses course on abortion, upholding strict 6-week ban

BY JAMES POLLARD COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - South Carolina's new all-male Supreme Court reversed course on abortion Wednesday, upholding a ban on most such procedures after about six weeks of pregnancy. The continued erosion of legal abortion access across the U.S. South comes after Republican state lawmakers replaced the lone woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, who reached the state's mandatory retirement age. The 4-1 ruling departs from the court's

Native American group to digitize 20,000 archival pages linked to Quaker-run Indian boarding schools

BY LUIS ANDRES HENAO NEW YORK (AP) - A coalition advocating for Native American people traumatized by an oppressive system of boarding schools for Native youths plans to digitize 20,000 archival pages related to schools in that system that were operated by the Quakers. The Quakers and other faith groups - including Episcopalians, Methodists and Catholics - have in recent years either begun or increased efforts to research and atone for

As Ralph Yarl begins his senior year of high school, the man who shot him faces a court hearing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Four months after he was shot in the head after ringing the doorbell at the wrong house to pick up his brothers, Ralph Yarl has begun his senior year in high school. Next week, the man accused of shooting him will be in court. Yarl's first day of school was Tuesday. "He was ready," his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, told the Kansas City Star. "Ralph was

Who’s in, who’s out, who’s boycotting: The 8 candidates expected onstage for the first GOP debate

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Donald Trump won't be on the Republican debate stage Wednesday. But the former president is driving the conversation on and off the debate stage anyway. Trump supporters including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will be in Milwaukee. There are questions about how many of his campaign surrogates will be allowed into Fox News' spin room. The network has restricted their access unless they are the guests of

A right-wing sheriffs group that challenges federal law is gaining acceptance around the country

BY TJ L'HEUREUX, ADRIENNE WASHINGTON, ALBERT SERNA JR., ANISA SHABIR, ISAAC STONE SIMONELLI, THE HOWARD CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM AND ARIZONA CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Against the background hum of the convention center, Dar Leaf settled into a club chair to explain the sacred mission of America's sheriffs, his bright blue eyes and warm smile belying the intensity of the cause. "The sheriff is supposed to

North Carolina unveils its first park honoring African American history

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina state officials joined historians and Black community leaders Wednesday under a sprawling oak tree in the heart of downtown Raleigh for the long-anticipated unveiling of the state's first park honoring the African American struggle for freedom. Located between the state Legislative Building and the governor's Executive Mansion, the new North Carolina Freedom Park stands as a beacon of hope for Black North Carolinians and